In Darkness, In Light
by Once Upon A Star Trek
Summary: Emma looked at the dagger in her hand. The dagger that now read Regina Mills. (Canon Divergent at Operation Mongoose Part II)
1. AN

Hi all:)

This is my first OUAT fanfiction. Hope you like it and R&R.

I made a Mood-Playlist on Youtube for the story: /nT14mlv92t4

LLAP


	2. D1

_Out of great darkness arises the greatest light. When everything seems lost, she who was chosen by darkness choseth the light and hope will return to all the realms of the world._

 **In Darkness,**

Six figures were standing in the middle of the dark road of Storybrooke. Mary Margaret and David looked around nervously. This was not good. With the darkness on the loose in the town, no one was safe. This thing could be anywhere. Their daughter Emma and Captain Hook were just as alarmed. They had to find it before it could destroy everything they had built. Regina searched the sky with her eyes, but the black form was difficult to see against a black sky. Then she saw it. It came winding down toward her. It happened so fast, the former queen could only let out a gasp of surprise before it engulfed her like a hurricane. She tried to escape it, but she couldn't, despite putting up a hell of a fight. "What is it doing?", Robin shouted over the noise. "What darkness always does. Snuffing out the light", Emma replied. David held back a shocked Mary Margaret while Robin ran towards the mass of blackness. He had to do something to save her! But when he touched the darkness, it sent him flying backwards. He got back up to witness the scene in front of him. Regina fought with everything she had, but she was too weak. The darkness was now bound to her soul. The tornado began to lift off with her, then it vanished into thin air. Emma looked at the dagger in her hand. The dagger that now read Regina Mills. "This is not good", she said. Robin was still staring at the spot where the love of his life had just been sucked up by a vortex of evil. He had to get her back! He walked over to Emma and took the dagger. "Dark One, I summon thee. Return!" Nothing happened. "Why didn't it work? The dagger is supposed to be able to summon the Dark One from anywhere in the world." "There you have your answer. She's not in this world."

A black viscous acid rose on the platform of the Dark One's vault. It rose and rose to slowly take a human shape. Regina spun around to assess where she was. She immediately recognized the Enchanted Forest. Then she glanced down to discover she was wearing a linen cloak. A creepy whistling tune startled her. "Who's there?" The laugh was easily recognizable. She turned to face Rumplestiltskin. "Rumple. How can you be here? You're in Storybrooke, in a coma." "You see, I'm not your Rumplestiltskin. I am just the voice inside your head. The Dark powers in you. Rumplestiltskin is just one of many forms I can take. Should I be Gorgon, the Invincible instead?" With a grin, he transformed into a fire breathing warthog. Regina ducked and yelled: "Stop!" He transformed back. "Very well then. Are you ready to begin?", he asked. "Begin what?", she snapped. "Learning to be the Dark One, of course. Think of me as your teacher." "Oh great, because that worked out so well last time. Maybe I should go with the warthog instead", Regina uttered. The imaginary Rumple pretended to be hurt, but then snickered again. "I'll stay with you until you embrace your darkness." "Then we're gonna be stuck with each other for a very long time, because I am not going to accept this darkness in me. Not now, not ever!" "Oh, they all say that. But they all enjoy its taste too much." Regina could feel the fire boiling in her. She would not accept that the happiness she had fought for was supposed to be taken from her again. "I have already tasted darkness before, in case you forgot. And I have fought to change for the better. I can do it again." So since she was in the Enchanted Forest, Merlin had to be somewhere. He would be able to help her. So Regina walked past Rumple to start looking for him. Only to freeze when he appeared right in front of her again. "You can't run from the darkness. No one can. You're not getting rid of me." "Says who?" She walked right through him.

"Hoh!", Arthur shouted to halt his horse, as he saw a hooded figure walk next to the path. His men did the same. "Excuse me. Can I help you?", he offered kindly. The person hadn't even noticed the cavalry, she had been staring at the ground lost in thought. She flinched a little at the sound of his voice, but then turned and took the hood off. "Oh, um… that's kind of you to ask. But I don't think you can. Unless you know where I can find Merlin?" Arthur jumped from his horse. "I know very well where he is and I can bring you to him. He is in Camelot, which I happen to be the king of. My name is King Arthur." "Regina." She wanted to thank him, but he turned to address his men. "Merlin told me that a saviour will come to this land and free him. I feel that today is the day his prophecy comes true." The men cheered. "Did you say saviour?", Regina asked. She was relieved. That meant Emma was going to come here soon. Her light magic could help her for sure. Arthur turned to her. "Why yes?" "I happen to know the saviour quite well. If Merlin said she's coming, then she's gotta be on her way here." Regina smiled at the thought of seeing Emma. "That's wonderful news. Let's return to Camelot where we will prepare a feast for the saviour." He led her to Camelot. On the way, he noticed this mysterious raven haired woman seemed to be lost in thought. He was determined to uncover her secret. When they arrived at the castle, a brunette woman in a beautiful pink dress was waiting for them. Arthur introduced her as his queen Guinevere. Then he ordered for a maid to show Regina to a guest room.

"I thought there was supposed to be a feast for the saviour", Regina discretely asked Guinevere, while both were standing on the side watching the people dance. "Oh, we have those pretty much every day", the queen responded with a wink. "Why don't you enjoy yourself?". A man approached the two. He put out his hand to Regina. "May I have this dance?" "Uhm well, I…", she wanted to object, but Guinevere pushed her toward him a little. She sighed and let him lead her to the dancefloor. She had always been more comfortable on the sideline, watching other people dance.

"Are you having a good evening?", he tried to break the ice. "Well yes. It is very gorgeous here. So, who are you?", she asked as they followed the other pairs' movements. "Are you one of Arthur's knights?" He nodded. "The question is who are you?" Regina smiled. "What are you talking about?" "Let me tell you a story," the knight said while he slowly spun her around. "Many years ago, a boy returned to his village in the Enchanted Forest to find it ablaze. Villagers screaming, terror in their eyes, his whole world burning like a funeral pyre. The boy hid, praying for mercy. But none came. Only an angel of death." Regina knew what he was talking about, of course she did. She put on the best mask she could. "She slipped through the flames relishing in the horror she rod. But before she escaped, she saw the boy. And amidst the carnage, do you know what she did? She smiled at him." "You were the boy." "And you were the Evil Queen." She let go of his hand. "Who else knows about this?", she asked as composed as she could. "No one." "Why not?" "Because Arthur would have stopped me from doing this."

He pulled out his sword and came charging at her. Regina jumped back in shock, raising her hands out of reflex. The knight froze and couldn't move, the blade just centimeters away from her throat. "Very good, dearie. How did it feel?" Rumple. Again! Regina desperately searched the crowd for help with her eyes. "Now, what are you waiting for? Kill him!" Regina was shaking in fear and shock. She couldn't do this! So she ran. The knight fell to the floor and tried to get up, but he was stopped by Arthur himself. "Percival, I'm disappointed. How could you attack a visitor?" Percival wanted to justify himself, but Arthur wasn't having it. He sent for the guards to lock Percival in his chamber. Then he went after the mysterious woman.

Out in the courtyard, Regina tried to calm her breath. Somehow, the tree that was standing in the middle seemed to have a soothing effect on her. She put a hand on it for comfort. The second she touched it, the tree began to glow and she heard a voice in her head. Regina pulled back her hand in shock. Arthur, who had come to apologize for his knight's actions, had seen everything. "There's no need to wait for the saviour anymore. It's you." "Nnnnnn... . This has to be a really big misunderstanding. I am no saviour. I know the saviour, her name is Emma Swan. There must a be an error!", she stuttered. "Merlin is never erroneous. He knows you're here to free him from this prison the Dark One has put him in." Regina wanted to object, this just couldn't be true! She was no saviour! But then she realized that if a Dark One had put him in there, another Dark One should be able to undo that. But she would have to use her magic again, which made her uncomfortable. She took a deep breath. "I will try to find out how to free him. But I can't promise anything." Then she left for her guest chamber.

Regina was turning and shifting in her bed, but no matter what she did, she could not fall asleep. "Trouble sleeping?", "Rumplestiltskin" startled her. "I'll have you know, the darkness never sleeps. Its power keeps you energized. You might wanna find a hobby to pass the time." "That's why you spun gold", Regina realized. She sighed. If she was going to stay awake anyway, she might as well start finding a way to free Merlin from this tree. The sooner, the better. She opened the chamber's window to look at the tree from above. That was when she had a vision. She could see a tall young man, something was telling her it was Merlin. But there was someone else. There was something about that woman, it had to be the Dark One. Regina witnessed how the Dark One transformed Merlin into the tree using a tear. Then she snapped out of it. The current Dark One immediately started gathering all kinds of potion ingredients she could find. Which was not much, but it would have to do. She had no idea what she was going to do, but something inside her guided her. And given she had no other ideas, all she could do was listen to her gut.

Down in the courtyard, Regina placed all the vials on the mural. She started by mixing four magical liquids. She was about to add the fifth one, when she realized. If she was the one to free Merlin, Emma was not going to come. Regina had hoped to see her so badly. Partly because she had counted on her friend's help with light magic, but also because she hoped Emma wouldn't come alone. The Dark One just wanted her normal life back, with Henry and Snow and Robin… Robin. Could he even still love her like that? She was becoming a monster again after all! He would never be with her again. The thought broke her. A tear streamed down Regina's cheek and dropped right into the potion, which started to bubble. A tear. A tear of a broken heart had imprisoned Merlin. Regina knew that sometimes, the cure laid in the poison. This was it! It was another tear of a broken heart that would undo the curse. A grey cloud arose from it and engulfed her. Somehow, Regina intuitively knew what to do and channeled it through her hands. She directed it at the tree, which was engulfed just like she was. Then, it was gone. And so was the tree. In its place, the man who she now knew was Merlin stood. "Thank you, Regina. I've been waiting for you."

By now, the guards on guard had seen something was up and woken Arthur, who just arrived. "You did it!", he exclaimed. Then he ran to Merlin furiously and pulled out his sword. "Where is the other half of it?", he demanded. The decorations on the sword were all too familiar to Regina. She knew where the other half was. It was in Storybrooke and bearing her name. "That does not concern you at the moment", Merlin told Arthur and cast a spell that transported him and his guards back to where they were before they had come here and erased a few minutes from their memories. When he was done, he approached Regina, who was still standing frozen in the exact same place. "And you were saying you could not be a saviour? Because Emma is? The two are not mutually exclusive. There is no the saviour, just a saviour. Emma Swan was destined to save Storybrooke. You were destined to save me. Which you did." He went on. "I can see the battle you are fighting inside, Dark One", he said. "I have to get rid of the darkness, but I just don't know how", Regina answered full of despair. "Your apprentice said that you could destroy it forever." "There is indeed a way to destroy the darkness. But maybe, it's already too late and the darkness has taken root inside you. The question is, are you ready to be free from it?" Regina didn't have to be asked twice. "Yes, I definitely am." "We will find out soon." He raised his hand and Regina felt the tingling sensation of being pulled through a portal. Storybrooke. She was back. 'Wow, thank you very much!', she thought. Merlin had been a dead-end.


	3. D2

Regina realized she was standing right in the middle of the road. To her left, she saw Granny's. There appeared to be some kind of party going on. She could see the happy and laughing faces through the window and wondered if she could ever be a part of this family again. "You're back", said Snow from behind. The younger woman had been on her way to Ruby's birthday party, she was running late, when she had spotted the familiar figure in the dark. "We've missed you." Regina spun around in surprise and Snow took in her appearance. Her long raven black hair was held up by her sparkling black headpiece. A leather belt pulled the strapless back dress together around her waist. A long cape was fluttering around her legs. The very figure-accentuating outfit had the old Evil Queen flair Snow knew too well all over it. But what concerned Snow the most was the empty expression on Regina's face. Had she reverted? Someone from the inside had spotted them, and now Emma, David and Henry came running outside. "Regina, where have you been?", the prince asked. "Camelot. Merlin was no help."

She looked to the side to see … Rumplestiltskin. "You again. Leave me alone!," she shouted at the man. Everyone else looked at her confused. "Regina, who are you talking to?" "Rumple. He's always there, wherever I go," she almost whispered, Snow and David exchanged a worried glance. Regina's muscles tensed as the imp continued to speak to her. "Kill them all. They will never accept you the way you are now." "Good", Regina responded. "Because neither will I!" Rumple just laughed. "What do I need to do to finally get rid of you?" "You see, right now you're stuck. You need to take the next step." "Which is?", she demanded. "Finally embrace the darkness." He laughed again. The craziness in his laugh sent shivers down Regina's spine. She knew that this was going to be her fate as well. "No," she said. "I will never embrace the darkness!" She lifted her hand to shoot a spell at this hallucination. "Mom, what's going on? What are you doing?" Henry approached her from the side and landed directly in front of her. She wanted to stop it, but the fireball had already left her hand. Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion. The fireball let the boy fly back several meters, where he landed with a grunt. The Charmings were right there with him, checking if he was okay. Regina was frozen in shock, she couldn't move. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground. "What have I done?", she whispered through tears. The pain of seeing her son laying there tore her soul apart. She pressed her hands against her ears to block out the noise of Rumple's laugh, which didn't work since it was all in her head after all. When she finally regained control over her mind, she send a healing spell over to her son and disappeared in a cloud. Emma looked up to see where that spell came from, but saw no one.

Regina stood far away from the scene, in the forest and looked down to the town, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She had to stay as far away from them as possible. Lacking other options, the woman magicked herself to her vault and sealed it. It was for the better. She leaned against the wall. "Well dearie, looks like you're starting to," she heard the unmistakable voice of Rumple. She took the object closest to her and threw it his way with a scream. It was a photo of her family that crashed against the wall and broke. Rumple was gone again. The broken woman picked up the pieces and cried.

"Mom? Are you here?" Regina looked up. What was Henry doing here? She couldn't face him, she was too afraid to find out what he saw in her. Too afraid to see the same hate in his eyes that she knew from everyone else. "Go away. Please." "No mom, I won't. I am here for you. And I came to give you this", he said determinedly. He was holding the dagger in his hand. The Charmings had decided it would be only right to give Regina autonomy over her own actions and Henry had volunteered to see her. She turned around. "No, don't come closer!" Henry was confused. "I erected a barrier that will protect this town from me," she explained. "Believe me, you're a lot safer on that side." "Mom, I came to get you back. It's okay. We're gonna solve this together." A tear ran down her cheek. How could he forgive her after what she had done? She wanted to hold him in her arms so badly, but she couldn't. She couldn't endanger him again. She could never forgive herself if she hurt him again. "Go. Please. I have to find a way to deal with this." "Then let me help you." "No. I can't risk hurting you again, I love you Henry, and that's why I have to stay as far away from you as possible." "But mum!" "Please. Just go", she cried. Henry put the dagger down and left the vault disheartened. Regina collapsed onto a chair sobbing. Until she heard a scream. It was Henry.

Regina destroyed the barrier in a heartbeat and appeared in front of the vault entrance, where her son was trying to defend himself against three dark winged creatures. One had grabbed him and was about to drag him away, when Regina hurled a fireball at it. It exploded and Henry fell, but his mother caught him. "Don't you dare touch my son!", she screamed as she hurled fireballs at the other two flying things. Two shots, two hits. "Are you okay?", she asked concerned. "Sure mum. You saved me." He hugged her. Regina found herself giving in to the embrace before she realized what she was doing. Her worry about her son had temporarily suppressed her fear of hurting him. It was like someone had found an off-switch. They looked up to see more of those monsters over the town. A lot more. "We gotta help the others", Henry said. "No. You stay here, I'll take care of that", Regina said. Then she magicked herself to central Storybrooke.

Where Emma, Snow, David and the others were already fighting the monsters. It was long, messy and tedious. Shooting them one at a time didn't help, they were just too many. They shot arrows, bullets and magic at them for a while, until Regina realized: "They are attracted by light!" It was something her gut told her from the way the beasts had reacted to Emma's attacks with light magic. "And how is that supposed to help us?", David asked. "Watch!" The Dark One took off into the air with a fireball in her hands. It grew and grew and the monsters flew straight at it. When they were all there, Regina let the ball explode. The beasts dissolved with a screech, while Regina landed next to Emma and her parents. "Wow!" Snow was speechless. "You were amazing!", she exclaimed. "You … you flew! Like a fairy! How did it feel?" "It felt wonderful. And I can't do it ever again." "But why?" "Because I loved it. The more I use this magic, the more power the darkness has over me." "Regina, you have beat the darkness before, you can do it again." "Thanks for the hope speech Snow, but how am I supposed to do this? Yes, I have done it before, but here I am. This must be the proof, that I can never escape the darkness forever. How foolish of me to think I could do it. All these former Dark Ones. They were all good people. But darkness turned them into monsters. Insane monsters. Something I have managed to become even without it. It is too strong." Regina pulled out the dagger. "I can feel it overwhelming me. And if I lose control..." She turned to Emma. "If I lose myself, you have to do everything you can to bring me back under control. And if necessary, destroy me. Please. I trust you, Emma." Emma hesitated, but took the dagger.

Belle came running towards the group. "What just happened? One moment, we were just under attack by some monsters and the next, we weren't. What was that?" "We don't know either", Snow replied. "They just appeared out of nowhere. Luckily, Regina saved us. But what were these things and where did they come from? We have to find that out, maybe there's more where those came from. Monsters like that don't just randomly appear." Belle nodded. "Research is my expertise. I will see what I can find out." She paused as one of the petals fell off the rose she was carrying. There was only one left. "Rumple! He's dying!" She ran to Gold's shop, the others followed her.

Rumple was laying still on the bed, just like when Belle had left. He seemed so peaceful, as if he was asleep. But Belle knew, not for long. Tears were running down her face. Snow put a hand on her shoulder from behind. Belle looked up through her tears. "Regina, can you save him?", she asked. "I don't know. I …" Regina hesitated. "I'm afraid to use my powers." "Please", Belle pleaded. "You're our last hope. If you can't do it, then who can?" Regina closed her eyes in fear. She wanted to help her so badly, but what would happen if she did? Then she nodded. "I will give it a try." She took a step closer to Gold and was about to conjure a spell, when a voice snarled: "Stop!" Regina jumped. Rumplestiltskin again. "Go. Away!" "I won't. You see, you have to demand a price first." She shook her head. "Not for saving a life." "All magic comes with a price, dearie", he said in his creepy screechy voice. "Then I'll pay it", Regina said. "Ah ah, it doesn't work that way. She asked for it, she pays for it." The man was pointing at Belle. Asking for something in return for helping. The evil queen would have done that in a heartbeat. But not Regina. She couldn't do that, it was just wrong! But did she have a choice? "Belle, when this is done, will you help me get rid of the darkness?" She wanted to kick herself, it felt so bad! "Sure", Belle said. "Thank you." Regina took a deep breath. Then she let her hands float over Gold's motionless body. Emma saw Regina's face turn blank. Mentally, she was in a completely different dimension. Her hands kept moving over Gold's body, as if they were remotely controlled. Belle regretted having asked her. Then, Gold began to breathe and the rose grew back to its original beauty. Regina pulled back in shock, she finally regained control over herself.

When Gold opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a crying but smiling Belle. "Oh Rumple! I thought I'd lose you!" She hugged him overjoyed. "Thank you", she said to Regina, who was still shaking. Rumple looked up. "So I see, you're the Dark One now. Told you." "Told me what?" "Remember the time I told you that darkness was tasting you?" "How should I forget that?", Regina answered. 'I tried to take my damned life after that talk!' She kept that part to herself though. "I have to admit, your Swan joke was pure Gold." That made even Rumple laugh. The others just stood there confused, they had no idea what the two were talking about. Apparently, Rumplestiltskin and the Evil Queen had an inside joke. "So you see, everything up to this point was just the appetizer. Now, we're at the main course. It has always been your destiny." Regina shook her head in denial. "No", she whispered, before she fled outside.


	4. D3

The woman hid her face in her hands. So it was true, she couldn't escape her fate. She needed to get away from the people she loved, as far as possible. One smoke cloud later, she stood at the town line. If she just took this step, she would be in a land without magic and her dark powers wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. Slowly, she extended her hand … and hit a barrier. What was that? Why was it solid again? This couldn't be! She banged against the barrier in madness until she finally gave up. She sat down breathing hysterically, her back propped up against the barrier. Her mind was spinning. She had to find a way out of here, to protect everyone!

"Here you are." Regina looked up to spot Belle in front of her. Belle sat down next to the woman who had kept her locked up for almost thirty years. But she was a different person now. "It's gonna be fine, I will help you. I would have helped you even if you hadn't saved Rumple." "There has to be a way to destroy the darkness." "But Regina. No one has ever managed that before." "That's because no Dark One has ever tried to actually destroy the darkness before. They wanted the power for whatever reasons they had. But all I want is to protect the people I care about. And right now, the only thing you would need protection from … is me." Belle nodded understandingly. "Have you tried true love's kiss? Remember, you were the one who told me it could break any curse. Just go to Robin Hood and..." "How? I'm a monster! And I'm not sure he could love me like that", she finally admitted. Belle gave her a comforting look. "You know, I have some experience with loving the Dark One. I have always seen the man behind the monster, the potential for good. And if I could, so can he." No matter what people did to her, Belle always saw the good in them. That's why everyone enjoyed her company. "But it didn't work for you, did it?" "That was because he chose darkness over love. And in my opinion, as soon as someone chooses the curse, it stops being a curse. But that's not the case here, am I right?" Regina sighed. "After what happened with Henry, I'm afraid to go near anyone I love." Belle had not seen that coming. She had always perceived the queen as a very strong and fearless person. Seeing her like this, shattered and open… She was determined to help Regina. "How about Henry? He could just write the darkness out." "He could, but he broke his pen. Because it would have been too much power for one person." Regina smiled through her tears. "He's such a wise boy." Then Belle had another idea. "Why don't we look in Rumple's magic book?"

"So we're just gonna walk in there and take Gold's book?", Regina asked as they stood in front of Gold's shop. "Well, technically it's the Dark One's book. Which means it's yours, now." Gold knew that as well, of course, and he retrieved the book for them.

In her vault, Regina started looking through the thick black book. The spells in it were incredibly powerful, but none could help her in her situation. She let out a deep sigh. Then, she flipped open the middle page. It was blank. "Why would a book have a blank page in the middle? Could it have been erased?", Belle asked confused. Regina laid her hand on the paper. "Revelio." The page remained empty. "No, there was never something on this page, the spell would have revealed if there ever was something." "That's mysterious." So if not even the book could help her, what could? Regina was starting to give up.

"Regina, have you seen Henry? We've been looking for him everywhere." Emma stormed into the vault. "No, why?" The raven haired woman looked up. "I tried to stay as far away from him as possible." Emma noticed the loaded handgun on the table next to her and it hit her. She looked Regina in the eye. "Didn't work", she whispered. She had tried to kill herself. So that the darkness would forever perish from this world. But no matter what she did, how many bullets she blasted into her head, her wounds were always magically healed. Regina knew she would have to go to a land without magic in order to be able to die, but there was no way to get out of the town. She shook her head in despair.

"So, what's up with Henry?", the worried mother asked. "He said he wanted to come visit you. But since he's not here, and never arrived here, where could he be?" Both women were full of worry for their son. With a little poof, a note appeared on the table. _I have your son. Meet me within 24 hours and I won't kill him._ "From who could that be?", Emma asked alarmed. Regina noticed a little image next to the text. A dragon. But why would the dragon do that? "We have to find a way to get to New York."

A whole group of people had gathered at the town line. "Now we just have to find a way to get out of this town", David said. He and Snow shot several bullets and arrows at the barrier, but they all stopped mid-air and fell to the ground. "Whatever this is that is keeping us in here, it's too powerful", he concluded. He looked at Regina, who took a deep breath. "I can try." She took a step closer to the barrier and put both hands on it. She closed her eyes and her fingers began to vibrate and emit a violet glow, that spread over the whole barrier around the town. Then she opened her eyes again and pushed hard against the barrier, which collapsed. "You did it!", Snow exclaimed. Regina managed to crack a small hint of a smile. "Now, let's get our son back." "But...what if we can't come back? Or lose our memories? Or become trees?", Emma asked. "You can stay here if you want, but I'm going. Henry is my son and I will do anything for him." "So do I. Let's go." They got into Regina's car and drove over the line. "I still remember everything and we're not trees, so I guess that's good news", Emma joked. Regina stayed silent.

Six hours later, they finally entered the huge city. "Henry, we're coming", Emma muttered. The streets they were driving through looked sad and abandoned. No person in sight. Until they spotted some. "Get down!" Emma ducked, just as the passenger window broke and a bullet just barely missed her head. Regina couldn't react fast enough. In the few seconds she was distracted, she lost control over the car and they rammed a wall and stopped. "Are you okay?", she asked the blonde who lifted her head back up. "I am", Emma answered. "But you're not." She pointed at Regina's right arm that was oozing blood. She was about to get something to stop the bleeding, but was stopped by a gun being held against her head. "Get out of the car. Now!" The women got out and looked around. A group of dangerous looking men had surrounded them with their guns aimed at them. "Listen. This must be a huge misunderstanding. Whatever is going on here, we have nothing to do with it", Emma tried, but was cut off by the man right next to her. "You're going to tell me who you're working for, or you have a hole in your head!" "We're working for no one. We're just … visiting New York. What's the problem about it?" "No visitor of New York would come here. You are in our territory. So. Who are you working for? FBI? CIA?" Regina shook her head. "This is insane. We are telling the truth, you…" One of the men kicked her in the back of the knees and forced her to kneel. "We don't like visitors to our territory." They forced Emma to kneel next to her and lifted their guns to point at the women's heads. "Wait!", Regina said. "You're right. We're from the FBI and have been observing you for days. You can see the material we gathered, if you want." Emma was confused. The look she gave Regina practically screamed 'What the hell are you doing?' "Let me get it out of the trunk for you", the older woman continued. When the one man, who seemed to be the leader of the group, nodded, she got up and went to the car. She watched the man's reflection in the car's window closely before she opened the trunk. The man couldn't see anything in the trunk, so he got closer. He was just about to approach Regina, when she turned around and slit his throat with a sword. She had a second one in her left hand and threw it towards Emma. The blonde caught it and fought of the guy next to her.

It all happened so fast. The Dark One swirled around like a ballerina of death, slicing through her opponents like paper. Emma only stood there flabbergasted. Regina was in a frenzy, she didn't know what was happening until all the men were laying around on the ground dead. She dropped the sword in shock. "What… what have I done?" Emma was by her side immediately and took the shocked woman's hand. "It's okay, we had to defend ourselves. Holy crap, that was genius, Regina." The woman shook her head. "I thought I could outrun the darkness by coming to a land without magic. But even here, it turned me into a killing machine." She looked up. "I had planned to stay here, so I wouldn't be a threat to anyone, but that obviously doesn't work out. No one is safe from me." Emma hugged her. "I'm so afraid. What if I go on another rampage?", Regina whispered into her shoulder. "Depending on what the dragon is doing to Henry, we might need that", the blonde said. Henry. She had to focus on him now. She tried to collect herself. "Let's get him back", she said. Since they could forget the car, the women started running through the huge city. They knew they had to hurry if they wanted to get to him in time. Regina was relieved she had remembered to exchange her Dark One outfit against her normal black suit and coat, anything else would have drawn a lot of unnecessary attention.

They stopped at Neill's apartment - which seemed to be the go-to place for anyone from Storybrooke whenever they needed to go to New York - for the night. Emma went to sleep pretty fast, her friend stayed up. Regina knew she wouldn't get any sleep, so why bother? She went to the bathroom to inspect her arm. It didn't look good. It would probably be best for everyone if she just died, but she had to save Henry before. She searched for a bandage and soon found it. After tending to her injuries, Regina heard steps. "Emma?", she whispered. But the blonde was fast asleep. Regina had a bad feeling about this. The steps were coming closer. "You sure they're here?" "Of course I am." As quickly and silently as possible, Regina went to wake Emma. "Emma. Wake up. We gotta go." But Emma didn't react. Not even shaking her helped. She was a very deep sleeper. 'Oh I guess she's gonna wake up soon enough', Regina thought. Then the first bullet banged through the door.

Emma sat straight up in the bed. "What?!" "Those guys had friends. We need to get out of here." The blonde was fully awake. The door opened to reveal at least a dozen men, their firearms raised and ready to shoot them. Unfortunately, the swords were by the door, so Regina went to the counter and threw a knife right into the first guy's face. Emma had found her gun and fired. She hit one guy's hand and his gun flew through the air, where Regina caught it. "Can you handle a pistol?", the blonde asked. "Let's find out", the other woman answered. They both took cover behind the kitchen counter. Then Regina stood up and opened fire. Emma was impressed by her accuracy. When she came back down, Emma asked her: "Where did you learn to use all those weapons?" "Long story. Let's rather deal with this problem right now. There's got to be a nest here." Emma got up to return fire now. More and more attackers came. "Give me cover," Regina whispered before she left the cover of the counter and placed herself directly in front of the door. She stood there straight and didn't blink while hitting every mark. When one of the men got closer to her, she did a jumproll to the side. She grabbed her sword and rammed it straight through his chest. "There we go! A lot better." The men didn't know what was coming at them and were soon finished.

When the sun finally rose, the two women continued on their way. They had four hours left and still a long way to go. Thanks to GPS, they at least knew where they were going. And they knew, it was going to be tight. They ran on for three more hours until they had to take a break. Emma took a look at Regina's arm, the bandage was soaked in blood. "You have to get that checked out. I don't even know if the bullet is still in your arm", Emma said worried. Regina shook her head. "We have to get Henry back first. Also, I already know it's not in my arm anymore. She moved her arm and Emma saw the hole in the black coat and a bloody bandage around her thorax. "Don't worry about it, it might be for the best. Now, let's go", Regina urged her. They ran on.


	5. D4

Two minutes. That's all they had left before… Emma's lungs were on fire, but she accelerated into a final sprint and so did Regina. They ran until they heard an explosion from behind. They turned and froze. The skyscraper they had just passed was broken in the middle and the top part started falling towards the ground. Emma snapped out of the shock and started running to safety, but Regina stood glued to the ground. "Regina, what are you doing?", Emma screamed. All these people in there would lose their lives, she had to do something! She lifted her hands, which began to glow. The Dark One could feel the energy surging through her body. With all her power, she willed the destruction reversed. The building stopped mid-air and slowly rose back up. It reattached to look as if nothing had happened. But everyone knew something had happened. The local news station had happened to be doing a live broadcast from across the street and filmed and aired the whole thing. So it had to be real. Amidst the general confusion, Emma grabbed Regina's arm to snap her out of it. "So you do have magic?" "Apparently, don't ask me how. Good to know, but it also means that no one is safe from me, wherever I go", the Dark One responded. She magicked the two women straight into the room of the Dragon.

"I've been waiting for you", the wizard said, looking at a clock. "Forty-seven seconds late." Forty-seven seconds. Seriously, it all came down to forty-seven seconds?! Regina choked. Those forty-seven seconds were the time she had needed to save the skyscraper from collapsing. So if she had ignored that, her son would still be alive. She was disgusted by her own thoughts. All these innocent people. "What have you done to Henry?", Emma demanded. "Oh, nothing too bad. I put him in a skyscraper and destroyed it." Both women froze.

"But it appears he is still alive, the building was somehow magically saved." Emma was at a loss for words, when the Dragon wiggled his finger and Henry appeared. He seemed confused, but when he saw his moms, he ran straight into their arms. "Oh my god Henry, you're okay! You scared us!", Emma exclaimed. "It's so good to see you, moms. I … I was in this building … and there was an explosion and … it all started falling. But then I saw you. And I knew it was gonna be okay, you'd save me. And you did." "Oh Henry", Regina cried. Then she looked up to face the Dragon. "What if it hadn't worked? All these people would be dead…" "Oh I knew it would work. I knew you'd realize. See, you can do so much, if you just let yourself." Regina shivered. She had heard that phrase before. From her predecessor as the Dark One. "Not like that. You have lots of potential you don't even know about. Just open up to all the possibilities and there will be nothing that can stop you. No story is carved in paper. You alone can write your future." What was that supposed to mean?! Why did he have to speak in riddles? And why did he do all that in the first place?! He could have gotten people killed! So many questions and so few answers.

Henry noticed his mom's injury. "Mom, what happened?" "Oh yes, I forgot about that. Doesn't matter. And since I know now that I have my magic…" She put her hand over her thorax wound and held the bullet in her hand. Then she let the hand slide over her wounds that healed within seconds. "You might want to get home", the Dragon said. Emma wondered what was going on inside his head. But she did want to get home. Regina magicked them to the car, repaired it and they drove home.

"Now, let's see if we can get back into town", Regina said as they approached Storybrooke. "You left without knowing if you can get back in?", Henry inquired. The two women would have done anything for their son. They drove on and all of a sudden, the road turned into a town. They stopped to be greeted by the people waiting. Emma was happily embraced by her favorite pirate, Henry went to hug his grandparents. Regina wanted to go over to Robin Hood so bad, but she chickened out and just gave him a smile. Then Emma took Regina's arm. "I'm happy you came back with us. I know you wanted to leave town, but you returned. What changed your mind?" "I had thought I wouldn't be a threat to anyone if I lost the magic, but we now know that didn't work out. The people here can at least defend themselves. Out there, no one would know what hit them." Emma put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. You can do this. If you can't then no one can."

No story is carved in paper. You alone can write your future. What did that mean? She couldn't write her story, she wasn't the author. Then, she realized. The book page! She could write on it! "Mom, what's up?", Henry asked her. Regina smiled. "I think I know what I have to do." "No matter what it is, I'm with you", he said, which made his mother shed a tear of joy. "I'm here for you, too", said Snow. They followed her to her vault, where she had left the book.

The Dark One held the book in her hands and closely examined the empty page. So if she wanted to write on it, she'd need a pen and ink. Right after she finished that thought, a filigrane quill magically appeared in her hands. Now she only needed ink. Regina studied the quill. The thin white feather was tainted red. Blood! She realized that it wasn't just an ordinary feather, its edges were as sharp as knives. Slowly, she lifted it to her arm to make a deep cut. She zoned out, she only barely registered Henry's gasp. But what was a little bit of blood? She filled the quill, a little clueless about what she was supposed to write on that page. Then something took over her. Regina was in trance as her hand flew over the page, drawing and writing mysterious symbols she had no idea of. When the page was full, she snapped out of it and looked at the page. Some of it was runes, that much she could see. But there was also a huge image of something that looked like a … a heart! "The heart of the darkness!" The runes had to be important, but what were they saying? Regina knew runes, but these were totally new to her. She let her fingers slide over the page, tracing the ink. "Stuck?" Why did Rumple always have to startle her?! "You know, I could help you if you just ask me." Regina didn't believe him. This was too good to be true. But it was worth a try, wasn't it? "Fine. Will you help me decipher these runes?" He grinned and translated. Regina's face fell further and further. She swallowed. "Mom, what's wrong?", Henry asked from behind the barrier Regina had erected once again just in case. "Did you find out what to do?" "Yes. I did." She hesitated. The page had revealed the first step towards the end of the darkness. But it wasn't going to be pretty. And if this was just the first step, Regina was already afraid of the steps that would follow. "The first step is to pay up for all my dark deeds. I have to relive every moment when I hurt someone." She knew this would be taking a while, after all that she had done. "Oh mom, I'm sorry", Henry exclaimed. "There's no need to be sorry for me. It was me who did this to these innocent people. And it is me who should feel sorry for them." Henry put a hand on the barrier. "It's gonna be okay, mom. I know it." A tear ran down Regina's cheek. "Oh Henry. I know very well what I did. I hurt and killed and tortured and slaughtered innocent people. And no matter how this turns out, I deserve this. I love you."

She lifted the dagger from the table and made a deep cut on her left hand. Her blood ran down the dagger. She held it over the book page and let it drip onto the heart, which turned blood red. Then she thrust the dagger right into it. Immediately, she took a step back and bent down gasping. She remembered that moment! It was the unicorn she hadn't been able to kill. How could she not forget this, it was one of the worst days of her life! But this time was different. She didn't see the black mare, she saw herself. She saw herself crushing the heart, and she felt the pain ripping her apart. So this was how it worked. She would practically be all of her victims, which meant she would have to look herself in the eyes. Then, the scene changed.

Henry could see the tears of sorrow in his mom's eyes. He wanted to help her so badly, but he couldn't do anything. All he could do was watch his mother twitch and cry in pain. It seemed like an eternity to both Regina and Snow and Henry, but then, all of a sudden, it stopped. Slowly catching her breath, Regina pulled herself up with the help of the table. The runes had changed, the first step was complete.

Suddenly, a booming voice filled the room, Snow and Henry pressed their hands against their ears to block it out. "Dark One. I feel you are different from the others before you. No one has ever fought the darkness this hard. You have the chance to end it all. But this will only work if your heart is ready. Are you truly ready to give up the darkness forever?" "Yes!" Henry could see the fear in his mother's eyes. "Mom, you don't have to do this!", Henry shouted from behind her. "Oh yes, I do," Regina responded and twisted the dagger around. There was a burning sensation in her chest. A pain stronger than any pain she had ever felt before. She looked down to see a hole where her heart was supposed to be. Then the darkness came through it. It engulfed her, just like when it had claimed her. It became more and more, absolutely surrounding her and the book with the dagger like a tornado, she was in its eye. She had to resist it or it would reclaim her again as if nothing had happened. Regina closed her eyes to focus and try to find the light inside. Her hands were starting to glow brightly when she was propelled back a few steps. Looking up, she saw a dark figure. She turned around, there were more encircling her. One of them was all too familiar because it was Rumplestiltskin. "So you're trying to destroy the darkness, dearie? How noble. Too bad that the darkness doesn't like to be destroyed." He and the other figures, which had to be other former Dark Ones, closed in on her, sending painful attack after the other her way. Gritting her teeth, Regina fought them with everything she had, but they were many and strong. Regina was battling for her life, but she seemed to stand no chance. Her power was dwindling and she grew weaker and weaker. A united attack of five Dark Ones sent her flying directly into the vortex of darkness that kept going round and round like a carousel. It spun her around like a doll. So this was it. She lost. Regina managed to catch a last glimpse of her son who stood there in fear, Snow had him wrapped in a hug in order to keep him from running towards her. No! She couldn't give up now! She had to fight it! For him! Regina stretched out her arm and grasped something to hold onto and pull herself out of this carousel. With all the strength she had left, she managed and fell to her knees. Looking up, she discovered that she had been holding on to thin air. 'I can do this', she realized. "I can do this. I can do this!" She began to glow, pure light erupted from her whole body. The Dark Ones had to shield their eyes, so did Henry and Snow. Slowly, the figures disappeared into the vortex to converge their power. Where the light met the dark, a huge energy was set free that set the air on fire. Regina was shaking from the strain. This energy was so strong, she even thought she might be able to win this fight. But not for long. Whatever this was, it began to lose power. The darkness started to gain the upper hand again and moved towards her, getting dangerously close to winning, but Regina fought with everything she had. The light grew and grew again. She was able to push back the darkness a little and the success gave her new energy. Regina threw everything she had at the vortex. The vortex exploded and the light spread like a circular wave. Regina collapsed to the floor unconscious. The wave didn't just stay in the room, but spread over the whole realm and replaced sadness with joy all over the world.

A new vortex emerged. But this one wasn't dark, it was light. It entered Regina's body the same way the other had left it. The wave had had enough energy to break the barrier, so Snow and Henry ran towards the woman on the floor. Regina regained consciousness and pushed herself up. Her son embraced her and she let herself fall into it. The booming voice interrupted the moment. This time, Regina recognized it. It was Merlin himself, who was standing in front of her. "I knew you could do it, Regina. You managed to do what I couldn't, you destroyed the darkness. The prophecy is fulfilled, from now on, there will be no Dark One anymore." He vanished into thin air.

Regina had a déjà-vu when she stood outside Granny's diner. She looked down at herself. The black outfit had been replaced by a pretty white dress. Robin sat at the bar, having a drink on his own. But this time was different. This time, she went in. When Robin looked up and saw her, he smiled. Less than a second later, she was in his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder and taking in his smell. "It's so good to be back," she whispered. Robin lifted her chin up to look into her eyes. Then they passionately kissed and it seemed like they would never let go of each other. Henry smiled happily at his mother's happiness. Out of intuition, he took page 23 out of his pocket. It looked suspiciously similar to the scene he was currently witnessing. The young author opened his book, the sequel he was writing at the moment. Thanks to Merlin, he now had a new pen. He was at page 22. Smiling, he put the loose page in and it magically glued itself into the book.

* * *

A young woman ran through the forest, tears in her eyes. Something shining caught her eye. She picked it up from under a tree. It was a dagger. No wait, it was the dagger. She grinned. This could be her chance to finally get back at all the people who had hurt her. "Dark One, I summon thee," she said. Almost immediately, a woman appeared. "Actually, I don't go by that name anymore. May I introduce myself? Regina, the Light One."


	6. Interlude

Sooooooo that's it for the first part. But there are soo many questions.

-Where did those monsters come from? -What was wrong with the town lline (again)? -Why was the dragon so psycho?

Answers may or may not be given in part 2. Any guesses so far?

At this point, I'd like to give a shoutout to Regina fan for being such a loyal reader:)

~Ari


	7. L

_Hi all. I've been planning to do this epilogue for a while. Here it is, finally:) LG_

* * *

 **In Light.**

Hope was returned to the realms. A new era of joy had begun, not only in Storybrooke, but in all the realms.

The hold of the darkness faded in all the realms, fields grew over the wastelands left by dark magic, allowing new life to bloom where once lives had been taken. New Yorkers were still in awe of the woman who had single handedly restored a collapsing skyscraper on live tv. She inspired the goodness in their hearts, bringing happiness back into the stressed and dull metropolis lives. Even the mafia clan Emma and Regina had had run-ins with found light in their souls.

"Welcome home, milady", Robin greeted his wife at their house, when Regina came home from her little trip to the Enchanted Forest. She had taken to using her new powers to keep others from the path of darkness she had walked on for so long. The girl she had met today - Drizella - had been at risk of losing herself to the darkness for revenge. Those that lost themselves often did so because they had no one to rely on, no one to help them. Having experience with that, Regina wanted to be that person for those poor souls. And thus, she let them find her dagger - which was only a relic to her now, it had no power over her - so they would call her. Only that she was not what they would expect. She finally felt good about herself, she was doing what she had been destined for, helping people.

Robin - ever the wonderful man - had made dinner and Regina let him lead her to the dining room where Henry and Roland were waiting for them. She quickly hung her black cape - at some point, Regina had gotten tired of wearing all white - in the hallway before joining them. She loved their meals together since she didn't get to be with them a lot. Between travelling the realms and running a town, there was not much time to relax. But Regina wouldn't have it any other way. This was her purpose, her meaning, her task.

They were still searching for clues about the monsters that had attacked Storybrooke or the barrier around the town. Hook and Rumple ended up becoming a fairly good detective duo. After endless quests that led them on a quick trip to the Enchanted Forest and Agrabah, they found a clue that led them to Camelot.

"Camelot, here we come", Emma said jokingly before the group vanished in purple smoke. It was pretty cool to have the power to teleport across realms, Regina found. If only Rumple had known that all it would have taken to get to Bae was to defeat the darkness. That had actually been the Blue Fairy's intention when she had sent Bae through the portal, she had thought Rumplestiltskin was the Dark One to beat the darkness. She had been wrong. But as it was, Rumple was a passenger on the Light One's inter-realm teleportation.

They landed in the heart of Camelot, where the Merlin tree had once stood. A group of guards saw them and immediately surrounded them. "We mean no harm, we wish an audience with King Arthur", Snow said calmly. "We are visitors from another land. I am Princess Snow White."

They were led to King Arthur's throne room where he and his wife were sitting. He greeted them warmly: "Welcome, dear guests. What leads you to Camelot?" "Storybrooke has recently experienced a monster attack and a border curse, our investigations have led us here. We wish to get to the bottom of this, if you allow us to research in Camelot, Your Majesty", Regina said stepping forward. The King gasped: "You."

Snow frowned. "How do you know each other?", she whispered confused. The brunette shrugged sheepishly. "I may or may not have fulfilled an old prophecy and freed Merlin while I was here last time. This is where I was after that dark vortex sucked me up." She hadn't told the Charmings all the details of her adventure, why should she? But her family and Emma knew, so while Snow and Charming gaped, Henry just grinned proudly.

"Yes, me. I'm sorry I departed rather abruptly the last time. It was not planned, Merlin sent me back to my realm." "I know, he told me. He has been mentoring me ever since you freed him, savior. Thanks to Merlin's mentorship, I have managed to overcome my little issue, which wouldn't have happened without you saving him."

"About that", Regina interrupted. "I know where the tip of your sword is." Her travel companions had no idea what was going on while the rulers of Camelot and Merlin exchanged knowing glances with Regina. The Light One flicked her wrist and was now holding her old dagger in her hand. Arthur and Guinevere gasped when they saw the dark dagger with the engraved name. "The Dark One!"

"Not anymore. I was the Dark One, but the darkness has been defeated. That was the reason I was looking for Merlin back then, I had recently been transformed and was looking for ways to get rid of this darkness." "We let the Dark One into our kingdom, how could we do that?" "It was new and I hadn't truly given into the darkness at that point, Merlin sent me back to my realm to get rid of it."

Only then did Arthur recognize the patterns on the dagger. "Is that…" "The tip of your sword? Yes." Merlin decided to explain. "When Excalibur was split, the top part was made into the dagger to control the Dark One. Attempts to reunite the blades have been undertaken for centuries, but no one has ever succeeded. But now, the dagger has been cleansed from darkness and can be reattached."

Arthur was still bewildered at the revelations. In all this time that Merlin had mentored him, he had never deemed it necessary to reveal that little detail? He shot the sorcerer a furious look. But Merlin seemed untouched by it. "When we met, you were far from the ruler you were supposed to be. I did not trust you with this kind of information, you were not ready for it. Now is the time for you to learn the truth. For you are ready." Regina stepped before the king.

"With the defeat of the Darkness, this dagger is merely a relic for me. But it is of value to you. Would you like to reunite your sword?" It was true, the dagger had no value to her. She could also use imitations for her mission of finding the souls in danger of losing themselves. Arthur's face lit up. He had been working towards this for so many years, hiding his issue and developing complexes. But now, he would finally be the true king of Camelot. "Of course I do." He turned to Merlin. "What do we need to do?"

The sorcerer directed Arthur and Regina to scout the old tomes in the library. It ended up being a mere education for Arthur on the origins of the Dark One. And an opportunity for the two to resolve their business. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about not telling you what I was", Regina broke the silence. "I didn't really see much of a choice if I wanted to find Merlin, I hope you forgive me for my lie." And Arthur found that he did. "You didn't cause any damage. And besides, if I had known and kept you out of my kingdom, Merlin would still be a tree. You were where you were supposed to be." When they had gone through all the texts they were supposed to, Merlin appeared and took them to a well in the woods, where the rest of the group was already waiting.

"You are ready." The ember of Prometheus' flame was floating over the well. Arthur approached it and pulled his sword out of its sheath. He carefully handed it to Regina, who produced the dagger out of her coat pocket. She brought both blades over the ember, which began to burn once more. Her power flew through both blades and converged to one at their tips. Slowly, two blades became one once again. The ember went cold.

Excalibur was repaired. Regina could feel the pure good magic flowing through the sword, it was so strong that it seemed to give off a white glow. She faced Arthur. "King Arthur of Camelot, I hereby entrust the sword Excalibur to you. I trust that you will be its keeper and guardian and use the blade for the light." Arthur was floored when he received his sword. "I thank you, Light One, and I swear that this sword will never fall into the wrong hands."

Now it was time to go find the answers they had come to Camelot for. They were about to take off, but Merlin was quick to stop the group. "You have completed your quest. Because I am the one with the answers you are seeking." "Seriously?", Emma exclaimed. The sorcerer addressed the Light One. "You see, those winged creatures were my doing, when I realized that you needed an incentive to come out of your isolation. And I had to do something to keep you from running out of town, so the barrier around Storybrooke was created by me as well. And the Dragon has not gone crazy, he has been working with me." Regina frowned. "So all of this was just you scheming?" "Yes, I needed to test you. Needless to say that you passed with flying colors.

You found your destiny on your own, we just needed to give you a few pushes in the right direction. It was all foretold, you were the one who defeated the Wicked Witch of the West, something that only the person with the strongest light magic could do. You are so powerful, not even a Land Without Magic can take your power."

"But why not tell me this when you were in my vault? Why let us chase you all the way to Camelot? Why the need to constantly control my moves?" Regina found herself growing tired of the constant meddling in her life and being kept in the dark about it all. Merlin, ever the non-transparent, replied: "Well, you needed to be here to reunite Excalibur anyway. Your determination and drive are admirable, Regina. There could not be anyone better suited to be the guardian of the light of the universe."

Now that they had their answers and their quest was complete, the whole team returned to their home. For that was what Storybrooke was. Their home. And those that felt the need to see the Enchanted Forest could approach the Light One easily. Barriers between realms became meaningless in this new era of light.

 _They lived happily ever after. For with the darkness vanquished and the light restored, life can finally bloom once again._


End file.
